AI Controls: decide which AI tools students and patrons can open
Every network gets its own AI setting. Start from a ready policy for K-12 students, a library children's area or library adults, change it by type or by single tool, and see in one report which AI tools were used at each site.
Ask about AI ControlsSee filter plans
An add-on to any hosted filter plan. Same dashboard, same networks, nothing to install on devices.
- 11,800+ AI tools
- 18 types, 165 subtypes
- 5 AI settings per profile
- Daily list updates
Three reasons to add it now
New AI tools reach students and patrons faster than most policies are written. This is why AI control belongs in the filter, and why ours goes further.
It answers what you are being asked for
Parents, teachers and boards no longer ask whether AI is on or off. They ask which kinds of AI children may use, and why.
AI Controls decides by type, and every decision carries a reason in plain words, such as "General assistants & chatbots" or "Trains on what users type". Those are reasons a parent or a board member understands.
It goes beyond other filters
Based on our research, no other filter combines such a large, detailed and fresh list of AI tools with ready policies and a report of the AI tools used at each site.
Most filters offer one AI switch or a few AI categories. Here you get more than 11,800 tools, 18 types, 165 subtypes and a new list every day.
It prepares you for the rules on AI and minors
Florida requires parental consent for student AI use and that staff can switch AI tools off immediately.
Ohio, Tennessee and Oklahoma already require school AI policies. AI Controls gives you the off switch, the settings that put a written policy into practice, and the records that show it is applied.
Everything you need to manage AI on a filtered network
AI Controls sits next to your category settings in the same dashboard. It does not change how the rest of the filter works.
A separate AI setting per network
Each profile has its own AI setting, so student Wi-Fi, the children's room PCs and the staff network can follow different rules. Branches that share a profile change together.
Five settings to start from
Off, Block all AI, K-12 students, Library children's area or Library adults. Before you save, each choice shows how many tools it would block, list for review and allow.
Rules for 18 types and 165 subtypes
Keep the ready policy and change one kind of tool, for example open language learning or close slide generators. A subtype rule beats a type rule.
Any single tool by name
Search by name or website and allow or block that one tool on that profile. A tool allowed by name opens even when the profile blocks all AI.
One switch for training on what users type
Blocks the tools whose terms say they train their AI on what users type, including tools that do so unless the user opts out. Children rarely change those settings.
The "AI tools used" report
Every AI tool used on each network, how often, when last, and what the filter does with it now. Tools to review come first.
A block button on every row
Block or allow a tool straight from the report. The button shows which profile it changes, and the change is live within seconds.
A block page that names the tool
When the filter's block page shows, the reason reads "AI tool:" and the tool's name, under your library or school name and contact details.
An AI section in the monthly report
The monthly report lists the AI tools used that month with lookups and blocked lookups, and how many are open but listed for review.
A list updated every day
More than 11,800 AI tools, each with type, subtypes, risk rating and training terms. New tools join daily and follow your policy without any action from you.
Explicit AI always blocked
Tools made for explicit images, nudify, deepfakes, uncensored chat or explicit companion chat are blocked in every ready policy, for adults too.
The staff PIN leaves AI alone
The staff bypass opens adult content for adult research. AI tools keep the status their profile gives them, before, during and after a bypass.
Pick a setting for each audience
The three ready policies are written for the people who use public and school networks. Off and Block all AI cover the two ends.
| Setting | What it does | Typical network |
|---|---|---|
| Off | All AI tools open. Tools you block by name stay blocked. | Staff and administration |
| Block all AI | Every AI website is blocked: the AI / LLM Tools category and every tool in the AI list. Tools you allow by name still open. | Testing labs, exam rooms, catalog kiosks, or any moment AI must be switched off at once |
| K-12 students | Protects minors first and academic integrity second. General chatbots, essay and paraphrasing tools, image generators, AI companions and AI games are blocked. Tutoring, study and quiz tools, language learning and reading aloud stay open and are listed for review.About 7 in 10 tools in the list are blocked. | Student Wi-Fi, Chromebooks, computer labs |
| Library children's area | The same protection for minors, with two library changes: writing help is listed for review instead of blocked, because a library does not police homework, and translation stays open.About 7 in 10 tools blocked. | Children's room PCs and children's Wi-Fi |
| Library adults | Almost all AI tools open. Impersonation tools such as face swap and voice cloning, explicit and uncensored tools are blocked. AI companions and AI text humanizers are listed for review.Fewer than 1 in 10 tools blocked. | Adult PCs and public Wi-Fi |
"Listed for review" means the tool opens, but it appears at the top of the AI tools report so someone decides on it. Nothing is blocked until you choose.
What stays open and what is blocked
Tutoring and study tools stay open for students and children. General chatbots, essay writers and image generators do not. Here is how well-known tools come out under each ready policy.
| AI tool | What it is | K-12 students | Library children's area | Library adults |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khanmigo | AI tutor | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| MagicSchool | Classroom AI for teachers and students | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| StudyX | Study and quiz help | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| Mathos AI | Math tutor | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| Consensus | Research assistant for academic papers | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| NaturalReader | Reads text aloud | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| GPTZero | AI-content detector | Open, listed | Open, listed | Open |
| ChatGPT | General chatbot | Blocked | Blocked | Open, listed |
| Claude | General chatbot | Blocked | Blocked | Open, listed |
| Perplexity | AI answer engine | Blocked | Blocked | Open, listed |
| MyEssayWriter.ai | Essay writer | Blocked | Open, listed | Open |
| QuillBot | Paraphrasing and grammar | Blocked | Open, listed | Open, listed |
| Undetectable AI | Rewrites AI text to pass as human | Blocked | Blocked | Open, listed |
| Midjourney | Image generator | Blocked | Blocked | Open, listed |
| Craiyon | Image generator | Blocked | Blocked | Open |
| Suno | Music generator | Blocked | Blocked | Open, listed |
| Character.AI | AI companion chat | Blocked | Blocked | Blocked |
Ready policies without your own changes and with the training switch off, as on 30 October 2026. The list is updated every day, so a single result can change. Any tool can be allowed or blocked by name.
The children's room and the adult PCs follow different rules
AI rules live in a profile, and each network follows one profile. That is how one library or school runs several AI policies at once.
Children's PCs
A profile made from the Children's PCs preset already uses the Library children's area AI setting, with SafeSearch and YouTube Restricted Mode on.
Public and student Wi-Fi
Library adults for public Wi-Fi, K-12 students for a student network. Phones and tablets that join are covered with nothing installed.
Devices that leave
Laptops on a network's encrypted link follow the same AI setting at home or on public Wi-Fi.
Adjust by type, by training terms or by single tool
A ready policy is a starting point. When your written policy differs on one kind of tool, change just that kind and leave the rest alone.
Names come first
A tool you allow by name is not blocked by the AI setting. A tool you block by name stays blocked under every setting, even Off. A profile holds up to 500 tools by name.
Explicit and high-risk tools stay closed
In all three ready policies, explicit, nudify, deepfake and uncensored tools and tools with a high risk rating are blocked. Only an allow by name opens one.
Your type and subtype rules
Choose Block, "Allow, list for review" or Allow for a whole type or one subtype. A subtype choice beats a type choice, and both beat the ready policy.
The ready policy fills the rest
When a tool has several subtypes, the strictest rule applies. Stricter policies also weigh the tool's risk rating and training terms.
Ordinary apps with AI features
Apps that only add AI to something else, such as a grammar checker, are listed for review rather than blocked by type. Block them by name if your policy requires it.
Changes schools and libraries make
- Student Wi-Fi: allow the AI tutoring subtype the district approved for all grades.
- Student Wi-Fi: block slide generators where the policy treats them as unoriginal work.
- Children's room: allow language learning for families learning English.
- Adult PCs: block AI companion apps on public computers.
- Any network: allow one chatbot by name that a teacher uses in class.
See which AI tools were used, and act on them
Settings say what should happen. The report shows what did happen on each network, for the last 7, 30 or 90 days.
AI tools used
How many different AI tools were looked up in the period.
Lookups
How often people reached for AI tools on that network.
Listed for review
Tools your profile allows that deserve a decision. They sit at the top.
Blocked tools
Tools stopped by your AI setting or by your lists.
Reasons people understand. Every status in the report and in the search comes with its reason, for example:
What people see, and what you keep
A blocked AI tool does not load. Your records show the board how the AI policy was applied each month.
Policy record
For each profile: the AI setting, your own type rules, the training switch and every tool allowed or blocked by name.
Monthly email
The report goes to the people you name under Settings, with one CSV per network and one for all networks.
Blocked categories
On the Overview, blocks made by the AI setting are counted under AI / LLM Tools, next to your other categories.
The staff PIN does not open AI tools
CIPA lets an authorized person disable the filter for an adult's lawful research. The staff PIN does that for adult content, for 15, 30 or 60 minutes, on one network.
- AI tools keep their status during a bypass. A blocked chatbot stays blocked.
- Under a ready policy, explicit and deepfake AI tools stay blocked even while adult content is open.
- An adult who needs one AI tool for work gets it by an allow by name on the adults' profile, not by the PIN.
- A bypass applies only to the network it was started on, so the children's room is not opened when adults use the PIN elsewhere.
Every bypass is logged with its time and length. The filter switches back on by itself.
How libraries and schools use AI Controls
The same add-on serves both. What changes is who sits at the screen and what the local policy expects.
| Topic | Public library | School or district |
|---|---|---|
| Who is on the network | Adults and children of all ages, often on the same building connection | Students, with staff on their own network |
| Ready policy to start | Library children's area for the children's room, Library adults for adult PCs and public Wi-Fi | K-12 students for student Wi-Fi, Chromebooks and labs; Off for staff |
| General chatbots | Blocked in the children's area, open and listed for adults | Blocked for students; a tool used in class can be allowed by name |
| Writing help | Listed for review in the children's area; the library does not police homework | Essay writers and paraphrasing tools blocked for academic integrity |
| Tutoring and study tools | Open and listed in the children's area | Open and listed for students |
| Exams and testing | Rarely needed | Block all AI on the testing lab profile for exam weeks |
| Staff PIN | Opens adult content for adult research; AI rules unchanged | Seldom used; AI rules unchanged |
| Who reviews the report | The branch manager or IT, once a week | District IT or the AI policy lead, once a week |
| What goes to the board | Monthly report AI section and the policy record | The same, plus the list of tools allowed by name |
Libraries
- Keep adult access to AI broad, in line with access to information
- Protect the children's room without a homework police role
- Give the desk a clear answer when a tool is blocked
Schools
- Put the board's AI policy into practice on every student network
- Keep vetted classroom tools open while chatbots stay closed
- Show the board each month which AI tools students reached for
How AI Controls fits CIPA
CIPA asks for a technology protection measure against visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography or harmful to minors. It was written long before chatbots.
CIPA does not name AI tools
Nothing in CIPA requires blocking chatbots or tutoring tools. AI Controls is not needed to comply, and CIPA filtering works as before without it.
AI is local policy
Which AI tools students and patrons may use is set in your acceptable use policy, internet safety policy or board AI policy. AI Controls is how that decision reaches the network.
Explicit AI and harmful images
Ready policies block tools made for explicit images, nudify and deepfakes. That carries the harmful-to-minors aim of your CIPA policy over to AI image tools.
One folder of records
Keep the policy record and the monthly AI section with your CIPA documents, so the board sees filtering and AI rules in one place.
This page is not legal advice. For the written side of CIPA, see our guide to the CIPA internet safety policy.
Ready for the rules that are arriving
States have started to set rules for AI use by students. These are the requirements we are asked about most, and the part of AI Controls that helps with each.
| What is asked | Where | How AI Controls helps |
|---|---|---|
| Parental consent for student AI use | Florida | Keep student networks on K-12 students or Block all AI, and allow by name only the tools your district has approved and cleared with parents. The policy record lists them. |
| Staff can switch AI tools off immediately | Florida | Choose Block all AI on a profile and save. Every network on that profile is closed to AI within seconds. One tool can be blocked from its report row with one click. |
| A school AI policy | Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma | Start from the K-12 students policy, match it to the written policy with type rules, and keep the report and the monthly AI section as evidence that it is applied. |
Rules differ by state and keep changing. Your counsel decides what your policy must say; AI Controls covers the technical side.
Start with a ready policy, adjust after a week
The first setup takes minutes per profile. After that, the report shows what matters on your networks, so each change rests on real use.
Day one: pick the ready policy
K-12 students on student networks, Library children's area for children's PCs, Library adults or Off for adults and staff. Save each profile.
Week one: let it run
Change little. Collect requests from teachers and staff in one place, so the first review has real cases.
After a week: review the report
Open AI tools for the last 7 days. Decide on each tool listed for review, starting with the most lookups.
Adjust
Allow by name the tools teachers rely on, block by name the ones that worry you, and set a type rule where your policy differs.
Turn on the training switch where it fits
On student and children's networks, if your policy asks for it. Check the report a day later for a tool staff still need.
Every month: share the record
Send the monthly AI section and the policy record to the director or principal. Review the 90-day view once a term.
A short weekly routine
- Open AI tools, all networks, last 7 days
- Decide on every tool listed for review
- Switch to the student or children's network and repeat
- Note each decision and its reason in your AI policy notes
- Check the blocked rows for a tool staff asked for
Step-by-step screens for every task are in the AI tools filter setup guide.
Good fit, and good to know
Good fit
- Districts writing or updating their first AI policy
- Libraries with a children's area and public Wi-Fi
- Schools with Chromebooks, labs and a student network
- IT teams of one or two people who need short weekly reviews
- Library systems and districts with several sites in one console
Good to know
- The filter decides by website. AI features inside a website you keep open cannot be split off from it.
- Ordinary apps with AI features are listed rather than blocked by type; block them by name if needed.
- On encrypted sites, browsers often show a security warning instead of the block page.
- It does not read prompts or chats. It is not a monitoring or classroom screen tool.
An add-on to any hosted filter plan
Once AI Controls is added, you set it per profile in the dashboard you already use. It works with every hosted filter plan, from a single library to a district or library system.
AI Controls
Added to the hosted CIPA filter you have, or quoted together with a new one.
- Five AI settings per profile, three of them ready policies
- Your rules for 18 types and 165 subtypes
- Single tools allowed or blocked by name
- Switch for tools that train on what users type
- AI tools used report for every network, with one-click block
- AI section in the monthly report and the policy record
- The list of 11,800+ AI tools, updated every day
Start with one or two sites on the monthly plan. It can be cancelled anytime.
Learn more
AI Controls FAQ
Short answers to what IT staff, directors and principals ask first.
Is AI Controls a separate product?
No. It is an add-on to the hosted CIPA filter. It lives in the same dashboard and works on the same networks and profiles, so there is nothing new to install or learn.
Which AI tools does it cover?
More than 11,800 AI tools in 18 types and 165 subtypes. Each tool carries its type, subtypes, risk rating and training terms, and the list is updated every day.
Can we block all AI and keep one approved tool open?
Yes. Choose Block all AI, or a ready policy, then allow the approved tool by name. A tool allowed by name opens even when the profile blocks all AI.
Are new AI tools covered without any work on our side?
Yes. New tools join the list every day with a type and subtypes, so they follow your ready policy and your own type rules automatically.
Does the staff PIN open AI tools?
No. The staff PIN opens adult content for 15, 30 or 60 minutes for adult research. The AI setting of the network stays exactly as it was during the bypass.
Can the filter see what students type into a chatbot?
No. A DNS filter sees which websites are looked up on your network. The AI tools report shows the tool, the network, the number of lookups and the time of last use, never prompts or answers.
What does a student or patron see when an AI tool is blocked?
The tool does not load. When the browser shows the filter's block page, the reason names the tool, for example AI tool: ChatGPT, next to your library or school name and contact details. On encrypted sites many browsers show a security warning first; the tool is blocked either way.
Do laptops away from the building follow the same AI rules?
Yes, when they use the network's encrypted link. Their lookups reach the same filter and follow the AI setting of that network's profile.
Do we need AI Controls to comply with CIPA?
No. CIPA does not name AI tools. Which AI tools students and patrons may use is your own local policy, and AI Controls is how that policy reaches your networks.
How quickly does a change take effect?
Within a few seconds of saving. A browser that opened the tool a moment earlier can keep the old answer for about a minute.
How do we add AI Controls?
Ask for it with your hosted filter quote, or add it to the filter you already have. It works with every hosted filter plan, and you can start with one or two sites on the monthly plan.
Put your AI policy on the network
Tell us your sites and networks. We reply with a quote for the filter with AI Controls, or for adding it to the filter you have.
Ask about AI ControlsAbout the hosted filter